


so let this drought come to an end

by mysilenceknot



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-04-23 04:12:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4862678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysilenceknot/pseuds/mysilenceknot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“And I know that Dr. Wells is an evil megalomaniac but he’s the only reason I met you, Barry. And you’re…” Amazing? Incredible? One of the best people Cisco had ever met? The guy who reminded Cisco that despite all of his mistakes and insecurities he deserved to feel happy?</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	so let this drought come to an end

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based on [this deleted scene from 1x23 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiXOnq_CHyg). Title comes from [A Year Without Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8uPvX2te0I) by Selena Gomez & The Scene.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah man, I’m great.” Cisco had just wanted to step away from everyone so he could cry for a few minutes. He just needed to let everything out so that he’d be able to compose himself enough to be normal around Barry Allen. But no. Barry had followed him out, of _course_ he had, because he cared enough to make sure Cisco was fine.

The way Barry’s eyebrows rose made it clear that he didn’t buy Cisco’s lie.

“I didn’t always like my life,” Cisco said after a sigh. “”There were a lot of times where I wished I could change things. Between my golden boy brother, and a set of parents who just didn’t get me at all…” He let out a short laugh. “And school, oh my god. Where even the nerds hated me and that made me be biggest nerd of all.

“And you know what? Now…” Cisco broke out into a genuine smile. “I love my life. My insane, incredible life.” Getting hired by a laboratory had been hard enough for him before the particle accelerator disaster. He knew his degree and grades looked excellent on paper, but the world was tricky and there were external assumptions made by employers that he had no control over. And after that night? Finding a new job in the field had been a struggle for some of the veteran scientists. Having your only non-academic work experience in the field be tied up in something that’d caused so much destruction left Cisco with fewer options than he’d hoped. But from all of that, in the last year he’d found a new family, a new home. He’d seen so many fantastic things and while there were things he definitely wished he hadn’t gone through, it had overall been good.

“And I know that Dr. Wells is an evil megalomaniac but he’s the only reason I met you, Barry. And you’re…” Amazing? Incredible? One of the best people Cisco had ever met? The guy who reminded Cisco that despite all of his mistakes and insecurities he deserved to feel happy? One of a handful of people in Cisco’s life who’d ever made him feel wanted and valued?

Cisco didn’t know how long they’d have until Barry went back to save his mom, but the last thing he could do right now was potentially taint what little time he had left by making his affections known. Barry was smart and funny and attractive and brave and adorable. He was so many wonderful things, but Cisco knew one thing Barry couldn’t be was _his_.

It was obvious Barry and Iris had an extremely strong connection, even ignoring what the future had told them about how things should have been if Eobard hadn’t meddled with Barry’s life. And he wanted to be bitter, god, he’d wanted to be so bitter about the way Barry lit up when he saw Iris, but he’d spent a good amount of time with her while Barry was still comatose. She was so kind, so thoughtful, so _beautiful_. She could walk into a room and chase the clouds away with a smile. Iris helped guide and stabilize Barry in ways no one really understood. Plus, Cisco had seen them kiss in one of his dreams, had seen the way they melded together. He had seen how perfectly they fit and how when they’d separated they’d smiled as if the world was finally in balance. Cisco couldn’t, no matter how much he wished he’d had a true shot with Barry, begrudge Barry the happiness Iris would give him.

“You’re my best friend,” he finally said. And this was true.

Barry’s small smile pushed Cisco forward. “And I know you have to do this.” He didn’t resist from stepping forward to touch Barry’s arm. “I want you to do this. I want you to save your family.”  
Cisco let go of Barry and stepped back, holding his hands together and his tears inside. “I just wish everything else didn’t have to change.”

It took Barry a moment to respond. “Cisco, listen to me.” A deep breath. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. But, I can’t imagine a world in which we don’t end up being friends. Don’t forget, even when that other timeline got erased, somehow you still remembered it.”

He wasn’t sure why he could remember a tsunami and that epic kiss between Iris and Barry before it approached, but those dreams were always so much better than when he’d see his heart being shredded. Would Barry erasing this timeline make the memories of his death go away, considering they’d be one timeline removed? And could he control what memories stayed? Maybe if he was lucky this timeline wouldn’t choose memories that would give him PTSD in the next one.

Barry stared at him for a second before stepping forward until he was closer to Cisco than Cisco had been a few seconds earlier. Cisco felt his heart begin to race as Barry reached forward to push the smallest strand of hair behind his ear. And then Barry moved forward and Cisco’s eyes closed and they were kissing.

It was long enough that Cisco could reach out and clench Barry’s hoodie as he kissed back, long enough to give his mind time to calm down enough for thoughts other than the _“oh my god oh my god oh my god”_ that had started running through his head right after Barry had stopped talking. He thought about how soft and warm Barry was, how he kissed with a pressure that made Cisco’s face tingle, how he’d dreamed of this moment for months but had never imagined how gently Barry would cup his head. He wanted to keep this with him forever.

He really didn’t want to stop when Barry slowly pulled away. His eyes opened to see Barry’s small smile. “Something to remember this version of us by.” It felt like a promise, almost.

“But us in another version?”

“We’ll find each other. If nothing else, the universe wants us to be bros.”

Cisco felt his smile widen as he changed his voice and joked, “STAR Labs forever.”

They simultaneously broke into laughter and Cisco released Barry’s hoodie. Barry playfully pushed his shoulder - because that’s what they did, that’s part of who they were – and Cisco headed towards the storage room, heart still racing.

Bros. He’d take it.


End file.
